Physicians, health officials warn of Lucas County coronavirus surge

Aug. 18—It was a bleak message and a warning from a panel of distinguished local health experts.

The record-setting coronavirus surges happening in many southern states could show up in Lucas County. In many ways, they said, a massive surge has already resurfaced.

The county reached its lowest average of daily cases during the pandemic on July 3, averaging around new three cases per day. As of Tuesday, the county now is reporting around 60 per day.

The running average of cases over the past 14 days is 50, up from 14.

Speaking at a news conference Wednesday that hosted a panel of hospital physicians and health experts from around the county, Toledo-Lucas County Health Commissioner Eric Zgodzinski said community members must prepare for a surge and take precautionary steps to protect themselves and those around them.

"As we see what's happening in other areas of our country, I would expect us to experience something similar, if not the same," he said. "So it is now time to really understand what is going to happen in our community, what has happened, and really what we need to do to protect ourselves, our loved ones, our family, friends, and especially the community."

As of Wednesday, Lucas County has passed the halfway mark, with 50.01 percent of the ' population having received at least the first shot of a two-dose vaccine. Mr. Zgodzinski and the panel on hand urged the community to look at what's happening locally and take the vaccine, reiterating a push for 70 percent of the population is still an attainable goal.

"We are experiencing a similar wave as we have in the past," he said. "I don't know where this is going to go, I don't know if any of the panelists can predict where it's going to go today, I don't know if anyone can predict where it's going to go. But if we see the trends of what is happening in other communities, we can project what's going to happen here."

Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, director of the Ohio Department of Health, warned in a separate briefing that what has happened in schools in other states with high infection rates could also happen here as classes resume. He and Gov. Mike DeWine have urged schools to impose their own masking requirements inside classrooms.

"I don't think anybody in Ohio wants really wants to see children getting sick and having to miss school, children having to miss out on participating in their sports or their other extracurricular [activities], such as band," said Dr. Vanderhoff. "But, you know, that's going to be ... inevitable if we don't take the lessons that we are seeing from other parts of the country that are ahead of us on this COVID wave....

"Delta [variant] has spoken very loudly and made it very clear," he continued. "It uses the unvaccinated like a magnet. It is really just a matter of when someone who's unvaccinated and unprotected acquires the delta variant."

Dr. Vanderhoff noted that federal health officials have called for a third booster shot of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines eight months after the second. Boosters could begin as soon as Sept. 20. At least in Ohio, that means that Ohio's oldest residents and nursing home residents, among the first to get vaccines last winter, would also come due first for the booster shots.

He said the booster shots will be the same vaccine people previously received. Pharmaceutical companies have been working to augment the vaccines to better address emerging variants, but those are still a ways off.

On Wednesday, Ohio officials reported the fourth day in about a week with new infections exceeding 3,000. The state reported 3,272 new cases, more than double the 21-day average of 1,546. Hospitalizations and intensive-care unit admissions were also on the higher side.

Statewide, 50.9 percent of all Ohioans — and 59.5 percent of those 12 and older who are eligible — have received at least a first shot. That compared to the 47 percent and 55 percent, respectively, who have completed the cycle.

To encourage inoculation, the local health department is giving away $100 Kroger gift cards to anyone who receives a first shot at one of the health department's clinics. That, mixed with the impact people have seen from recent hospitalizations, has moved the needle a bit on vaccinations recently, Mr. Zgodzinski said.

The delta variant's confirmed presence in Lucas County has pushed hospitalizations at the University of Toledo Medical Center back up, said Dr. William Saunders, the chief of emergency medicine at UTMC, the former Medical College of Ohio Hospital. And unlike previous waves, he warned, younger patients are being admitted.

"After several months of seeing very few COVID cases in the emergency departments, we are now seeing a lot more," he said. "We are seeing a very rapid increase in the number of patients that have COVID symptoms, and unfortunately we're seeing this population is much younger."

Patients hospitalized with the delta variant are much sicker too, stressed Dr. Jennifer Hanrahan, an infectious disease specialist for both ProMedica and the University of Toledo.

"This is the worst thing that I've seen as an infectious-disease specialist, and I've been doing infectious disease for close to 30 years," she said.

Maynard Porter, a Toledo resident who first contracted coronavirus in November and still deals with its after effects, has had six procedures to open up his airways to keep him alive. He has a seventh procedure, a reconstructive surgery, scheduled in September.

"I implore everyone, get vaccinated," he said through the two masks he wore at the news conference Wednesday.

On Sunday, Lucas was upgraded to a "high" level of transmission throughout the county, a designation that's color-coded in red on official U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention maps.

Lindsay Chandler, the clinical nurse manager for Mercy Health, urged health workers above all to get vaccinated and protect their families from contagion. Vaccinations remain voluntary in Lucas County despite an order from hospitals in other Ohio cities mandating shots.

"As a nurse, this is my calling, this is what I was meant to do, but I didn't want to bring it home to my family," she said. "So, I feel like when I go in now to work, I feel like I'm going into battle with armor on. And I tell my teams the same thing.

"I trust the science, and I encourage the community and the people on my teams to do the same thing," she continued.

The health department has also put out an advisory for residents to wear masks while indoors or at large, crowded outdoor events. Mr. Zgodzinski strongly implored the community to take heed of what medical professionals are saying and prepare for a storm of cases that could hit the area.

"It is up to each one of us to make sure that we keep ourselves healthy and safe, our families, our community," he said. "It is up to you. We are asking you to get vaccinated if you have not been, but we are also asking you tot respect those around you if you are not vaccinated, to make sure you're taking those precautions too."

The Wood County Department of Health reported 70 new cases since Aug. 12, and an average of 14 cases per day. The state health department said 54.52 percent had received at least an initial vaccine dose.

First Published August 18, 2021, 12:55pm